CNN’s POLITICAL GUT CHECK | for July 22, 2014 | 5 p.m.
— n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

FAA BANS U.S. FLIGHTS TO ISRAEL, CITING ROCKET ATTACKS … The FAA has told U.S. airlines that they are prohibited from flying to or from Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport for a period of up to 24 hours. "The notice was issued in response to a rocket strike which landed approximately one mile from" the airport on Tuesday morning, the FAA said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: ALBRIGHT: ISRAEL ‘OVER-DOING’ IT … Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday that Israel was “hurting” its “moral authority” with its response to the attacks in Gaza.FULL POST

CNN and National Journal joined forces Thursday to explore the 2014 midterm elections at the first "Politics on Tap" event in Washington D.C. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, joined CNN’s Jake Tapper, Brianna Keilar and Peter Hamby, as well as National Journal’s Ron Fournier, and Michelle Cottle for the private gathering. Check out some of the best highlights from the event on our Storify page.

(CNN) - If the Russians did it, it's their President's fault.

That was the message Sen. John McCain delivered after the United States concluded a missile shot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

While it is unclear who shot down the plane, the Arizona Republican says that if either the Russian government or pro-separatist forces in Ukraine fired the missile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is ultimately responsible for the crash.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney defended the Bush Administration’s decision to invade Iraq more than a decade ago on Monday, saying, “I believed in it then. I look back on it now - it was absolutely the right thing to do.”

A few minutes into a Politico event in Washington, where Cheney, his wife Lynne and his daughter Liz were speaking, protesters began to heckle the three members of the Cheney family. The protesters called the former Vice President a “war criminal” while holding signs reading “Arrest Cheney.”

Cheney’s wife Lynne brushed off the interruption, joking, “I wondered why the line (to the event) was so long.”

(CNN) - Rep. Bill Cassidy has one solution for moving legislation on the Keystone XL Pipeline through the Senate: Remove its top obstructionist.

“We must stop Harry Reid and the senators who support him from blocking the Keystone XL pipeline – blocking the jobs, the opportunity that it creates,” Cassidy said in a weekly GOP address. “It’s time to retire Harry Reid as the leader of the Senate.”FULL POST

(CNN) – While the suspected mastermind of the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi is now on U.S. soil, the political fallout related to his prosecution may just be beginning.

The criminal complaint against Ahmed Abu Khatallah was filed nearly a year ago, and he was nabbed two weeks ago in eastern Libya. He appeared in a federal court in Washington on Saturday – much to some Republicans’ chagrin.FULL POST

(CNN) - Echoing his 2014 “year of action” mantra, President Barack Obama delivered a clear economic message during his weekly address Saturday: I will take action to fight for the middle class into my own hands if Congress doesn’t act.FULL POST

CNN’s POLITICAL GUT CHECK | for June 23, 2014 | 5 p.m.
— n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

KERRY TO IRAQIS: WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK IF YOU UNITE AGAINST MILITANTS ... U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Iraqi leaders Monday as radical Sunni militants continue their march toward Baghdad during the country's tensest time since the U.S. withdrawal of troops in 2011. "The future of Iraq depends on decisions made in the next few days and weeks," Kerry said after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the man who some observers say needs to step down ... “Our support will be intense, sustained," and will be effective if Iraqi leaders unite to face the militant threat, he said. – CNN’s Chelsea J. Carter, Hamdi Alkhshali and Susanna Capelouto

Gut Check Full Service: Half the public says the U.S. doesn't have a responsibility to do something about escalating bloodshed in Iraq, according to a new national poll.FULL POST

(CNN) - Traveling to the first caucus state of 2016, where presidential candidates will meet a much-anticipated test, three potential Republican candidates took the stage Saturday at the Iowa GOP state convention to tout conservative principles and a new GOP message.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, declared that if the GOP sticks to conservative principles, it will “be the dominant party again.”FULL POST